“Early Weaning: Crunch Time”
by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist
This topic may be the most difficult to come to grips with as a beef rancher. But this year has been tremendously taxing in the western plains region, and desperate times call for desperate measures.
Early weaning means lighter weights, a change in management, extra planning, perhaps additional facilities, feedstuffs, health concerns, etc. The calf is drawing nutrients from the cow, and drawing down her body condition during a time when the range is incapable of providing nutrients to replace body condition, and supplemental feed is expensive to use to replace those stores. Conversely, pulling the calf off early will allow the cow to dry off and use what little nutrition is available through range and supplement to replace precious lost stores. There is abundant time to re-gain body condition prior to spring calving, and supplementation can be adjusted based on range conditions and winter weather.
If calves are at least 90 days of age, they can be removed from the cow and survive—even thrive—in a feedlot environment. If facilities and feedstuffs are available, three scenarios are available: calves can be cost-effectively grown to a similar weight this fall as would be expected during a “normal” weaning situation; the calves can be retained through the fall and sold as feeders in the spring; or the calves can even be retained through finish.
One common concern is that of immune function of the calves. The health of early-weaned calves is at least equal to their normal-weaned counterparts, and in some cases may actually be improved due to residual circulating maternal antibodies from colostrum and improved weather conditions during summer vs. during a cold, wet, fall. Granted, weaning during extremely hot, dusty conditions can also contribute to stress and health challenges as well, but the risk is no greater than during normal fall weaning. Proper preparation of the calves 2-3 weeks prior to weaning can minimize some of the risk. These procedures may include:
- Creep feeding in order to shore up areas of potential under-nutrition, including energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals.
- Pre-conditioning vaccination.
“Soft” weaning may also be considered, which can be accomplished by either (1) use of nose clips which prevent the calf from nursing, or (2) by fence line weaning where cows and calves may continue nose-to-nose contact but the calf cannot nurse. This removes the nutrient drain on the cow by the nursing calf, but eliminates the added stress of abrupt and complete separation.
If there ever was a situation where “business as usual” needed to be cancelled and “outside the box” thinking was required, it is the summer of 2011. Above all, TAKE ACTION!, in order to salvage the most from a very challenging situation.
